That's an interesting thought, Ron. It would also give a lot more room
for rear panel connectors.
73,
Larry N8LP
Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
What I don't understand is why we keep putting small gear in little
rectangular boxes.
We need a human sized panel for human sized knobs and buttons but that
doesn't mean we need a BIG rig! Indeed, it can be very small and friendly on
modern desks.
Look at a modern "flat panel" computer or TV display. Why not a desk-top rig
that is built like a thick version of one of those? Big and relatively thin?
Stand it on a "foot" like the displays. Heatsink on the back, if needed,
along with necessary connectors, and lots of space for controls on the
front.
The large panel area would allow the layout of the circuits to follow a
logical path, with controls closely associated with the circuits they're
associated with. If there's a really heavy part, like a big heat sink for
the finals, put it down at the bottom at the "foot". You want the antenna
connectors down there anyway. And no multiple layers of tightly packed PC
boards to wade through when troubleshooting either!
That's nothing new. It's how radios were built in the 1920's, 30's and at
least through the 50's. Remember seeing pictures of those huge, long
1920-vintage broadcast-band receivers with a whole row of knobs across the
front? Those were tuned-radio-frequency sets with a whole row of tubes
amplifying the signal before it was detected (turned into audio). Each knob
adjusted the tuning of the amplifier behind it. Parts were big, so the
cabinet had to be pretty deep, but the first step in the design was to lay
out the controls so they were close to the associated circuits. As superhets
took over, fewer controls were needed to tune R.F. amplifiers and more
controls were needed for the I.F. and audio stages, but the same basic
layout remained, progressing from the antenna to the audio output. The form
factor was constrained by the front panel and the unit was only as deep as
needed by the bulk of the parts used.
Smaller sets were often built right on the back of the "front panel" with no
"chassis" at all, just a box to hold the front panel vertical and keep
inquisitive fingers from breaking tubes or getting into high voltages.
The logical evolution would have been for those to get thinner and thinner
until modern solid state radios were simply a thick "front panel".
Instead we kept the old rectangular form factor and reduced the size of the
front panel and the controls!
Wayne took a big step in the direction I'm suggesting with the KX1, putting
the controls on the top of the box instead of the "front". The original rig
had one main PCB behind the panel with the controls laid out near the
associated circuits.
Picture a 100 watt KX1 tilted up at a 45 degree angle with a base and having
the same thickness but a panel size of, say, 14x18 inches (35X45 cm) with
suitable knobs and meters...
Ah... Meters...but that's another story...
Ron AC7AC
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